Hi everyone welcome to the recap on the chapter on the British Isles-- just a few things to keep in mind and then we will get to the response questions-- okay first of all as I mentioned in the introductory videos this Pantheon is very very vague --we simply don't have a clearly defined group of deities like we do in the Greek or Norse cultures so that sometimes confuses people and those groups are confusing enough that this group is is really really vague-- and we learned this term in the last chapter Euhemeriz; Euhemierized-- and some Irish stories and characters may have been Euhemerized, again that means based on real people or events --we see we saw that in the Icelandic creation myth the Prose Edda --in this case deities were often depicted as idealized versions of early medieval Irish aristocrats so just something to keep in mind and that means - that the five ages story could represent actual battles and tribes that fought over the land so that's just something to think about-- okay sorry about that I went the wrong way some general motifs that we see in this grouping --the values of knowledge and wisdom-- very important to this group they they prized that very highly-- a lot of magic found in nature, and water was especially prominent and very important to this group-- that includes visiting or drinking from wells and sacred Springs-- some people think that this connection is possibly the origin of our custom of throwing coins in fountains and making wishes, so it's kind of interesting to think about-- you know the idea of throwing sacred things into water that could be where that comes from. Their concept of the Otherworld as this mystical beautiful land filled with music and all kinds of interesting beings this other world was and would have been in their mind accessible from this world even by the living as a parallel place and we can see remnants of that in fantasy stories up to this day-- you may have read or seen stories where people accidentally get taken to this fairy realm and while they're over there time moves differently either slower or faster and sometimes they can get back and sometimes they can't, so those kinds of stories go back to this folklore, the idea that this Otherworld is a parallel place that you can actually go to. Magical weapons again a very prominent motif in the myths from this area we can see that in almost all the stories magical weapons of some kind. Other motifs keep in mind-- the importance of bards and poets, again that speaks to that wisdom gained from experience, from storytelling, from possibly having access to the Otherworld, they were very very important and remember too the power of their words because people's reputations live on in stories-- ruining someone's reputation by spreading a story about them-- that damage-- the way they're viewed --was really serious. Heroic journeys and quests that's something that again it is is prominent in all of mythology seems like all over the world but we definitely see that here. Patterns of three again that pops up often but it we really see it a lot in the British Isles this this Trinity idea. Successions of invasion invasions races of beings battles over land is very important. Lessons on how to be a good king or a good ruler very important as well and management of and agriculture and power another prominent theme. Okay just a few words about sidhe and just because it comes up so often and because we get so much fantasy stories and so much from folklore about fairies and fairy land and fairy behavior from this group I just want to point out a few things about the sidhe-- that word may be more familiar in its later Irish spelling it's changed a little but it describes both the fairy folk and their realms it comes from a root word actually that means "seat" as in the seat or abode of the gods-- it was primarily used to refer to the Celtic Otherworld and the earthly portals that connected that world with our own-- these were often associated with fairy mounds or elf mounds which are actually pre-Celtic burial sites, in addition to referring to the otherworldly locations-- the word sidhe was used to describe the beings who lived in that parallel world-- these were the old gods and goddesses of Ireland, divine beings who lived in the sidhe mounds and in watery locations like rivers, lakes, oceans, wells, and springs-- in the medieval period the sidhe were also called the Tuatha de Denann and the tribes of the goddess Danu and so there's sometimes there's a question about whether they the same thing or not, the Tuatha de Denann and the sidhe and that's a gray area there-- some people again look to the stories and say well that's what happened that the Tuatha de Denann when they came to Ireland they were considered special magical sort of beings and then of course became sort of godlike and then diminished over time as they were forced into the the burial mounds into the Otherworld and so now in some folklore when people talk about the sidhe of Irish folklore sometimes they're talking about just the sort of a general notion of a fairy like being and sometimes they're talking about again these ancestors almost of these godlike beings the Tuatha de Denann and so a study of Irish folklore is fascinating and all these these different things come up when you're talking about that. While these these realms were separate from our world and as I mentioned earlier and in both time and space it was understood they existed at all times around and parallel with this world again I can't stress enough how different this is from some other groups we've studied where you know the other world or the underworld was a place that you went after you died but this other world and their concept was a place that you could go to and people did go to they believed while they were still living and again it's it's a little vague it was considered the source of wisdom, skill, truth, healing, and power it contained beautiful or desirable elements recognizable from our world but woven together in an almost dreamlike state and that's a quote from this book Celtic Myth and Religion by Sharon Macleod-- notice they don't have a heaven or hell situation-- the afterlife here is is just as vague as the overall pantheon so again it's fascinating study. In "The Courtship of Etain" those sidhe mounds are imagined as at the centres of social power and land management so it's a really interesting way of looking at things-- okay so speaking of "The Courtship of Etain" (whoops) sorry about that-- before we get to the discussion question here the story of Etain reflects life in the Irish Middle Ages while the Celts, their ancestors, may have had somewhat more egalitarian lifestyle that wasn't true in medieval Ireland-- polygamy was practiced and arranged marriages like we see with Etain would have been common but as you might have noticed Midir seems to be trying to do the honorable thing by winning her the proper way rather than stealing her even though he could have-- the author of the story seems to be trying to make this a story of romance--swans mate for life, by the way-- so it's kind of a kind of a romantic notion there okay so I asked you this question: discuss desire and jealousy and how they serve as motivation for characters in the story-- which has the most impact on the story desire or jealousy and why? So you could have made a strong case for desire being a great motivating force but most students also --you know, I mean, most of the time when I ask this question I get a sort of a half and half divided-- a lot of people say desire but a lot of people also say jealousy-- both could be defendable as an answer-- the important thing was how you defend your answer with specifics from the text --sorry I keep going the wrong direction, I'm using the wheel on my mouse-- so here's a sample of a really good answer: Etain is the subject of desire throughout the story Midir pursues her across centuries and even enchants Alill to get close to her then he uses strategy in the game against Eochaid to win her yet again he loses on purpose to lure Eochaid into a false sense of security and of course Eohaid pursues Etain relentlessly after Midir wins the game he spends years digging up the mounds trying to find her there's evidence of jealousy for example Fumnach is obviously jealous of Etain but desire was probably the strongest motivator overall. So this is a really good answer the student defends it with specifics from these story-- that's what I'm looking for okay-- comments about the ending before we move on --I've had students ask me in the past about well why wouldn't he recognize Etain at the end ?--and note the text says 60 women all in the shape of Etain and so like her that none could tell which was the Queen (page 291) no one could recognize her --Eochaid chose Etain's daughter-- his own daughter-- by mistake so we must keep in mind that he didn't know he chose incorrectly and he didn't know that Etain was pregnant when Midir took her away so yes he ended up having a child by his own daughter but he didn't know it was her this was intended as punishment to shame him and it worked even though incest is present in quite a few myths it was not intentional in this story again he was supposed to be ashamed of that-- also again try not to take things too literally there's lots of magic and strange things going on in these stories so read them like fairy tales --symbol and metaphor take the lead over literal meaning in many cases and it may seem as though it would be simple to pick out a loved one from a group but again this is not a literal story so keep that in mind --okay the hero Lugh let's talk about him for a minute-- In what ways does his story fit Campbell's monomyth? okay so regarding Lugh as a hero-- on this one you did well if you pointed out some specifics about his life and actions so let's look at a sample answer here-- first of all there was a prophecy about Lugh's birth --here's a quote from the text-- a druid foretold that it was by his own grandson Balor or would get his death-- when Balor's daughter Ethlin gave birth Balor bade his people put the child in a cloth and throw him into a current of the sea-- he also had a wide variety of skills he was honorable to he let Bres go at the end of the battle-- does anybody see some parallels there? Did anybody remember the story of Perseus? He also had to deal with a villain with a deadly gaze in Medusa, plus he was just like this, you know, the subject of a prophecy where he would overthrow a family member and so he was thrown into the sea --so again that's a very popular motif in heroic epics, the idea that the child is destined for some greatness and out of fear the child is subdued or tried to be--they try to get rid of the child but of course the child will grow up and fulfill his destiny, that's part of the heroic epic, so this is a really good answer --but there's more so more elements of the monomyth can be seen as follows: Lugh defeats his grandfather and becomes king this can be seen as the atonement with the father or even the supreme ordeal the series of battles can be seen as his road of trials and the time he's held safe in captivity could be a billy of the whale moment so this was a little challenging especially since there was more than one battle and in addition Lugh didn't fight alone he had help but identifying allies as an archetype is also part of the hero's journey so you could have pointed out that Lugh possesses many special skills but he also had but many but but he had sorry he had help so again that's part of identifying the monomyth again the archetypes and the parts of the journey this one it was a little more challenging and and you remember keep in mind that not every part of the monomyth is present in every part of every story you just have to look for those moments those pivotal moments that can be said to you know change the course of events or be really a significant and important in this one again Lugh defeats his grandfather and becomes king so this could also be seen as atonement with the father and it were a supreme ordeal again you have to decide what you think it is if there's not like one right answer-- in addition some you know you could have pointed out that the whole series of battles is a road of trials also recall that one point during the story Lugh is being that part I just mentioned was being kept safe that could have been a lot of things but I think belly of the whale might have been a good way to look at it and we put that back up on the screen sorry about that because you know it he's being held captive he's being kept in a confined space and he wants to get out and and help so that's that's pretty important and of course the helpers you you could have identified any number of helpers-- all right let's move on-- we're still talking about that battle and I asked you this question: The use and function of magic and magical objects in the story The Coming of the Tuatha de Denann so I asked you about the various sources of the magic is it divine is it natural? both? Explain. So you could have mentioned that the Tuatha de Denann brought four treasures with them but those treasures were not all used in this story the the Dagda's harp was mentioned and there were magical weapons as well but there were a lot of other things that you needed to find, not just that-- that wasn't a sufficient answer so let's look at this one--The Tuatha de Denann brought four treasures but they were not all used in the story (as I just mentioned) there were enchantments that "brought mists and clouds of darkness over the land showers of fire and blood and caused people to be unable to see or speak with one another through the length of three days" Both sides had magic at their disposal Lugh had a magic breastplate sword and a special horse, Balor had his evil eye, spells were used on wells for healing and to cause thirst and sickness, magic was used upon the land and animals as well, the trees and stones were enchanted to become an armed host against the Formor and put terror on them the magic's source seems mainly to come from druids and witches but when speaking about objects like the Dagda's harp it can be speculated this is divine magic of some kind-- Lugh's words could be considered a kind of magic too, the poet's power of satire is also important in this context it's also described as magic-- here's another quote "I will put shame on them and enchantment that way they will not be able to stand against fighting men" from page 300 --so again this is a really really thorough, really good answer, the best answers explored a variety of examples again more than just mentioning those treasures of the Tuatha de Denann and because that's I mean that was mentioned briefly but that wasn't part of the story like all of these other things so that's that's really important-- okay I asked you to explain how The Coming of the Tuatha de Denann can be seen as a metaphor for a cosmic battle between opposing forces such as dark and light, civilization and chaos, and culture and nature, so I wanted you to notice how the Battle of Magh Tuireadh can be seen metaphorically as the victory of civilization over chaos chaos, over nature, kind of like Marduk overthrowing Tiamat right-- so here's a really good answer: In the creation story earlier in the chapter we learn about the succession of various people coming to inhabit the land they each bring something new so civilization grows-- in the battles described in this story the Tuatha de Denann are described as having traits like wisdom, inspiration, and knowledge-- those are things that defeat disorder and chaos-- the most obvious moment that shows civilization is when Lugh spares the life of Bres and asks him to reveal the best way for the men of Ireland to plow and to sow and to reap not only is Lugh very honorable to do this but this shows the importance of agriculture and that's how civilization flourishes the Tuatha de Deanann have everything required to succeed-- so if we look at the creation story the five ages, the battles go back and forth during that time but the Tuatha de Denann are the most equipped and they are able to win the final battle each group brings something adds order and fights for the land but theirs is special-- the irony is that the sixth race believed to be humans pushes the land into a Dark Age-- aren't we supposed to be the most civilized? Is this because we're not divine? I don't know-- it's something interesting to think about-- but remember that we have that succession motif here and most scholars say that this this battle is supposed to be kind of interpreted this way again as a metaphor for civilization winning over chaos so there's a lot a lot to unpack there anyway so I hope that that helped and I hope that you were able to get through this chapter and enjoy the stories despite those difficult names-- I hope that those videos that I posted before the reading were able to help you a little bit with that and with that I will close this video, and I'll see you next time.